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The tricky part is distinguishing between things that are successful and things that just haven't obviously failed. Tradition might not always be the best of al

by Kalium 8y ago

The tricky part is distinguishing between things that are successful and things that just haven't obviously failed. Tradition might not always be the best of all possible guides here, as it tends to be a collection of things whose primary commendation is that they didn't immediately cause a society to fail.

thaumasiotes 8y ago
> [tradition] tends to be a collection of things whose primary commendation is that they didn't immediately cause a society to fail. Not at all. Traditions become traditions over long periods of time. Thus, they tend to be collections of things that haven't caused a societal failure in the last several hundred years, which is a much better record than not causing immediate failure.
- Kalium 8y ago
  I have a friend who rarely uses crosswalks. He tends to walk into traffic while shouting "Plot armor!". He has yet to be run over, so this has an excellent track record. Yet I suspect it just might be other than the greatest of all possible ideas, despite the lack of demonstrated failures. (Yes, this is absurd. Yes, I've told him this is clearly a bad idea. Yes, it's actually true.) Which is to say one should be cautious of survivorship biases and the role of context. Judging traditions as successful based on a limited context where they haven't obviously failed both ignores the situation upon which they may depend and other scenarios where precisely those might have failed. Like the other people who have tried what my friend has and been rendered into chunky salsa for it.
  - Chris_Chambers 8y ago
    Your friend is a precise example of the sort of person who would die before being able to make an impact on the traditions of his community. He would only be remembered in the form of a cautionary story warning people not to act like he did. Individuals tend to die from their mistakes while traditions enable future generations to automatically avoid those mistakes.
  - gear54rus 8y ago
    this story is hilarious and infuriating at the same time, I hope no other people will get hurt because of that bs.

by Kalium 8y ago

thaumasiotes 8y ago

> [tradition] tends to be a collection of things whose primary commendation is that they didn't immediately cause a society to fail. Not at all. Traditions become traditions over long periods of time. Thus, they tend to be collections of things that haven't caused a societal failure in the last several hundred years, which is a much better record than not causing immediate failure.

Kalium 8y ago
I have a friend who rarely uses crosswalks. He tends to walk into traffic while shouting "Plot armor!". He has yet to be run over, so this has an excellent track record. Yet I suspect it just might be other than the greatest of all possible ideas, despite the lack of demonstrated failures. (Yes, this is absurd. Yes, I've told him this is clearly a bad idea. Yes, it's actually true.) Which is to say one should be cautious of survivorship biases and the role of context. Judging traditions as successful based on a limited context where they haven't obviously failed both ignores the situation upon which they may depend and other scenarios where precisely those might have failed. Like the other people who have tried what my friend has and been rendered into chunky salsa for it.
- Chris_Chambers 8y ago
  Your friend is a precise example of the sort of person who would die before being able to make an impact on the traditions of his community. He would only be remembered in the form of a cautionary story warning people not to act like he did. Individuals tend to die from their mistakes while traditions enable future generations to automatically avoid those mistakes.
- gear54rus 8y ago
  this story is hilarious and infuriating at the same time, I hope no other people will get hurt because of that bs.